County Nurse, The (TAGS Episode)

Episode Info

The County Nurse

• S2.E24
• Filmed: 56
• Aired: 56
• Original Air Date: 1962/03/19
• Writer(s): Jack Elinson and Charles Stewart
• Director: Bob Sweeney

Plot Summary

Mary Simpson, the first of the county nurses, enlists Andy's help in getting Rafe Hollister to submit to a tetanus shot. Rafe refuses until Andy, using the old reverse psychology trick, gets Rafe to change his mind by serenading him with a song that Andy plans to sing at Rafe's funeral.

Summary

A new county nurse, Mary Simpson, arrives in Mayberry tasked with administering tetanus inoculations to local residents. She has promised her supervisors a 100% success rate, making every holdout important.

The biggest obstacle is farmer Rafe Hollister, a stubborn, independent man who proudly claims he has never needed a doctor and refuses all medical treatment. His resistance is especially significant because he is influential among other farmers, meaning his refusal could undermine the entire program.

Mary seeks help from Sheriff Andy Taylor, who agrees to assist—partly out of civic duty and partly because he’s clearly taken with the nurse.

Andy brings Mary to Rafe’s farm and tries a calm, logical approach. He demonstrates medical tools and explains the importance of the shot, but Rafe remains unmoved and dismisses them outright.

Deputy Barney Fife insists that Rafe needs a firmer hand. His attempt to handle the situation only escalates things—Rafe becomes angry enough to fire his gun to drive them off the property.

After the shooting incident, Andy arrests Rafe and brings him to jail.

Instead of threatening him, Andy uses a clever psychological tactic by painting a vivid picture of what might happen if Rafe gets tetanus and describes the suffering and consequences in detail. Andy even frames Rafe’s refusal as something that could make him a tragic "example"

Rafe eventually agrees to take the tetanus shot—and goes a step further by helping encourage other farmers to cooperate with the vaccination

Odd Facts Known by Few

• In the opening scene, there's a blank space in the lower left corner of the bulletin board with police notices overlapping everywhere else. After Mary leaves, a flyer appears in the blank space, not overlapping any of the other notices.

• Andy still has the cast on the wrist he injured bringing in the Gordon boys in the previous episode Aunt Bee the Warden. The real-life reason for the cast has been debated for years, but it is believed that, in reality, Griffith sprained his wrist when he got angry and put his fist through a wall.

• Rafe Hollister's farm is the same one used as the Flint farm in season one's Ellie Saves a Female.

• When Andy takes nurse Mary to see Rafe Hollister the squad car approaches the farm from "screen left" but just a little later when Barney takes her to try to get Rafe to take the shot, the car approaches from "screen right." This might mean there are two way to go from the courthouse to the Hollister farm OR it could mean then director just wanted to shoot the second scene from a different angle to make it more interesting.

• This is the second time that Andy has a character played by actor Jack Prince shoot at him. In this episode, 'Rafe Hollister' is firing a rifle at Andy. The first time was when 'Luke Rainer' (in The Inspector) was shooting toward Andy and Barney because he thought they "were the law." He also fires at Andy and Barney (as 'Ben Sewell') in Alcohol and Old Lace.

• This is the first of two appearances of Mary Simpson, the County Nurse. The second will come three episodes later, in Three's a Crowd, with Sue Ane Langdon replacing Julie Adams in the role.

• This episode is one of the rare times that Barney teases Andy, over his liking Mary, instead of the more frequent teasing of Barney by Andy.

• The episode reflects a genuine public health push in the early 1960s to promote tetanus immunization, especially in rural farming communities. Farmers like Rafe—frequently working with tools, wire, and livestock—were considered high-risk, making the storyline surprisingly grounded in reality.

• Actress Julie Adams appeared in the movie "The Creature From The Black Lagoon". It was claimed in the '50s that her legs won an award as "the most perfectly symmetrical in the world" and that they were insured for $125,000.

Character List

• Andy Griffith - Andy Taylor
• Don Knotts - Barney Fife
• Jack Prince - Rafe Hollister
• Julie Adams - Mary Simpson

Photos

Mary Simpson